Praise for Kate Prudchenko’s Stories

"'The Silence of a Death' and 'The Other Mrs. Pfeiffer'--are brilliant! The prose is taut (as Rene puts it) and crisp, the characters and situations are engaging, and the plot twists are reminiscent of Poe, Maupassant, and O. Henry, three of the supreme masters (as you know) of the art of short fiction. (I am also reminded somewhat of Raymond Carver.)"

---Dr. Robert Welsh, Professor of English, Western New Mexico University

"I read 'The Other Mrs. Pfeiffer'--and wow. Powerful impact. I so love writing that is taut and yet conveys so many surprises and such a punch. I much enjoyed the read and seeing some of your other work!"

---Rene Bahrenfuss, Graduate student in English, Western New Mexico University

Regarding 'The Silence of a Death': "Fantastic story, Kate. Really enjoyed reading this. I did a class a few years ago as part of my MA on making the metaphor real, and this reminds me of a number of the stories we read. Very powerful depiction of infant-induced anxiety and strife."

Regarding 'The Craving' "This reminded me of American Beauty with Kevin Spacey in the role of the pervy dad. Fantastic imagery, throughout. Great stuff."

---Loree Westron, the editor of THRESHOLDS: Home of the International Short Story Forum, PhD student in Creative Writing at the University of Chichester, writer of short fiction that has been highly-placed for awards including the VS Pritchett Memorial Prize and the Fish Short Story Prize.

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Lineage of hero-warriors in Beowulf

Consider the importance of the lineage of the hero-warriors in the poem. The narrator always introduces characters in this manner: “Beowulf, son of Beow. . . .” Thereafter, he frequently repeats this formula when he refers to one of the major characters in the poem. Why is there such a great emphasis on the lineage of the hero-warrior, and why is this so important to the characters in the poem? How does their lineage affect their sense of who they are–how they see themselves–and also how the other characters in the poem see them?

The main characters of the poem are introduced as son of whomever. There is such a great emphasis on the lineage of the hero-warrior because “the life and death of the hero recapitulate the cycle of age: the heroic generation is born, flourishes and dies” (xlii). This means that if a family begins, it also ends, “if races begin, they also end” (xxxii). A woman is identified as someone’s daughter and “a man is identified as someone’s son or of someone’s kin;” therefore, heroes are treated as “children of men” (xxxii). For example, “Beowulf the Dane…he next fathered four children that leapt into the world” (5). This patriarchal structure is very important to the characters in the poem because it gives them a sense of their identities. Furthermore, it also gives their lives more importance and their glory more value. In contrast to the heroes, Grendel, the antagonist, is not identified as someone’s son. This is an important distinction that separates him from the heroes of the story. Though he is male, he is identified by his mother and his mother plays an important role in his evilness/antagonism/otherness. Instead of positioning him in the patriarchal world of heroism, Grendel exists in the matriarchal world of the unknown/ the other. Instead of a child of men, he is a child of women. Therefore, by separating Grendel from the world of heroes that the protagonists exist in, the story promotes Grendel as the unknown/ the other who must be destroyed.